Thanksgiving and Disney

For Thanksgiving this year, we decided to head south to Florida to celebrate. Several months ago, Rob got a marketing phone call from Hilton wanting to give us a three day stay in Orlando super cheap in exchange for us attending a timeshare presentation (No, we didn't buy it). So we booked it for the same time that Steve, Sara, and Ethan Davis were going to be there, as well are Gail and Mike Davis and Barb Pike. Between our timeshare deal and some military deals we got through Steve (thanks!) we ended up with a super fun and cheap Disney vacation!


The Davis' and Barb stayed on Disney property which ended up being really convenient because we could park our rental car at their hotel for free and get free parking at the Magic Kingdom, but still be within walking distance to Epcot and Hollywood Studios. We enjoyed the parks, and I think my favorite was Epcot. I loved looking at all the countries and exploring the authentic-looking buildings and international food.

For Thanksgiving, Gail ordered a Thanksgiving meals for all us from a local grocery store and we all ate together in the Davis suite. Gail even brought turkey napkins so it would feel like the holiday even though we were in Florida.


It was fun to see Will, who is now 6 months old, interacting with his cousin Ethan who just turned 1. Here are some attempts to get a picture of them together.

One of the best parts of vacation was being able to be outside together and walking around the Disney property. Here is our family walking on the Boardwalk near Epcot. The weather in Florida was actually quite cooler than I had expected it to be, but toward the end of the time we were there it was warmer and quite sunny.

Here are some cute snapshots I took of Will one morning in our hotel room when we were just hanging out. He can now rollover both directions and loves to do so constantly so that he can get the best possible view of whatever is going on around him. He is also fascinated with almost anything colorful, and water bottles in particular are a favorite item that he likes to reach out and grab.

Here are some older snapshots of Will that were from Halloween that I can't resist including. He was a "Wild Thing" for Halloween and even treat-or-treated to two houses before getting too cold.

Hello Again!

Wow, it's been a long time since I have written an entry here! I hope you all have not given up on me. The summer has been very busy and is now almost gone. Here are some of the highlights.

At the beginning of August we went on the Pike family vacation with all the extended Pike family at Green Lake in Wisconsin. The whole family rented three small cabins (1 room) and one large cabin that had a large kitchen and family area. We shared our cabin with John and Cassie, and we had a great week enjoying the beautiful grounds. We did a golf scramble one evening which was really fun, especially for those of us who rarely golf, and had a kids carnival another day.

On August 31 I went back to work, but I have dropped my schedule down to 20 hours a week, at least until busy season in mid-January. That was such a relief as I was not at all keen on only seeing Rob and Will for a few hours in the evening after being spoiled all summer seeing them all the time. For the days that I am working Cassie will be watching Will along with the three Pluth kids at their house. They also love to hold Will, and Raegan is quite the little babysitter in the making!

Last week we went to the Minnesota State Fair and had a blast! Will was really good in his stroller, and loved all the sights and lights. We ate our way through the day and in the evening watched a junior high rodeo competition and then also saw some fireworks. The weather was perfect for being outdoors.

Well, those are the highlights, but here are a few more random pictures. Enjoy!

William Rolls Over!

Last weekend was the first time Will rolled over from his stomach to his back. Both Rob and I missed the first time which was when I had put him on a blanket on the floor for some tummy time. When I came back a couple of minutes later his was lying on his back. I asked Rob why he had turned him over, but Rob said he hadn't! So I went to get the camera and and he did it again, but wouldn't do it for the camera. He hadn't done it since, but today he did it again four times, and this time we got it on video! Hope you enjoy it.

This summer the garden I planted in Barb's backyard several years ago is just beautiful. A lot of the plants are finally maturing and are just gorgeous. Here are some pictures Rob took of the flowers.

William's First Trip

For the week of the 4th, we packed up and headed off to southeastern Iowa to introduce William to his relatives. He had quite the active social calendar and was able to meet his great-grandmas, great-great-aunts, and his grandpa! He loved all of the attention and by the end of the trip was starting (we think!) to give out real smiles. We tried to get him to smile for the camera, but that didn't work very well. What we did get was some goofy faces as Daddy tried to coax a smile.

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We also have been helping John and Cassie with some odds and ends around their new house. A couple of weeks ago we helped them assemble and install some extra cabinets from Ikea in their kitchen. Even Will helped, or at least was the foreman of the job.

William Isaac

This post is a bit slow in coming, but we welcomed our son William Isaac on June 14 at 6:04PM. He weighed 7lbs 14 oz and was 19.5 inches long. We are still trying to decide who he looks like, but is seems like it definitely depends on who you ask. Some people say, "Ooo, he is such a Pike!" and others say the only Pike feature is his red hair! Here are some of the snapshots of his first days at the hospital and and home.

We had many visitors both at the hospital and at home of people wishing to congratulate us and see Will. My mom was able to come stay with us for six days after Will was born which was a huge help since I had a hard time getting around the first week.

Will arrived just in time to celebrate Rob's first Father's Day! He gave Daddy a really nice framed photo collage of some of the professional pictures we had taken at the hospital (with a little help from Mommy).

Welcome to Our Blog!

Welcome everyone to our new blog! We thought that this would be a great way for eveyone to keep in touch with what's going on in the Pike family as well as a great place to share pictures. We hope you enjoy it!

This week we seem to be doing the waiting game. The baby's due date is Monday, June 8th, and it seems like everyday we ask ourselves, "Is this the day?" So far there is no news to share on when baby Pike will decide to join us. When he does come, we will of course be posting pictures and all the birth stats.

In other news, Rob started his Sunday night bowling league this past week and continues to play softball on Thursday nights with the Wooddale Mercy Rules league. I (Rosie) have been busy this past month getting the house ready for the baby, and it seems to be very close if not done!



This picture is from the MNCPA dinner a couple of weeks ago. It was a really nice event to celebrate those who had received their CPAs this past year. I will post more pictures on our next blog!